Improvement in barrel-heads



s. WHEELER.

BARREL-HEAD.

No. 187,497 Patented Feb;20, 1877.

ti J

SETH HEELER, 0F LBANY, NEW Yonn.

IMPROVEME T IN BARREL-HEADS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 187.497, dated February 20, 1877; application filed December 27, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SETH WHEELER, of the city and county of Albany, State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Barrel -Heads, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to the construction of the heads for barrels, casks, and similar articles, in such manner as to beeasily removed without disturbing the hoops. To accomplish this I construct them in the manner herein shown and described.

In the accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of a head embodying my invention as it appears when secured in a barrel; Fig. 2, an elevation or edge view of the same.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the head is divided into three main or principal sections, the central one of which is divided transversely into the subsections A and B, which may be made of equal or unequal lengths without involving any change of principle in my invention. The transverse joint between the sections A and B is beveled in the direction of their thickness, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig.2, for the purposes hereinafter described. For securing these subsections in position I use a clasp consisting of the upper plate 0, under plate 0, and bolt to, which is placed directly over the transverse joint of the subsections, for the double purpose of applying the force directly at this point, where its influence will be the greatest for bringing the parts into line, and for affording protection to the joint against the admission of dust and dirt. The plates of this clasp may be made either of wood or metal, and either with or without spurs upon their bearing-surfaces for retaining the clasp in position after it has become slightly loosened by the shrinkage of the head, or other causes.

When the subsections A and B are made of equal lengths, or nearly so, I preferably make the plates of the clasp long enough to overlap the adjacent side sections, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby giving to the subsections greater strength, by reason of the support derived therefrom; but in many cases, where it is desirable to reduce the weight and cost, the clasp may be reduced in length to the width of the subsections. In such cases I prefer to make these sections of unequal length, so as to apply the clasp nearer to the periphery of the head, as shown by the dotted lines at D, Fig. 1, for the purpose of securing greater strength.

By means of the beveled joint formed between the subsections A and B, these two parts are forced outward as they are brought into line, by the bolt a, in securing the clasp in position. This action forces the opposite ends of this part of the head into the groove or croze of the barrel. The beveled ends also facilitate the removal of the subsection A, by presenting a better opportunity for inserting a peg for that purpose.

To remove the head from the barrel, the bolt a is slackened, so as to release the hold of the clasp, which is then moved back clear from the subsection A, the bolt-hole in subsection B, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, being slotted for that purpose,when the subsection A can be readily removed without disturbing the other parts. When it becomes necessary to remove the whole head, the remaining operation is so obviously simple as to render any description of it unnecessary.

While it is clearly manifest that the subsections A and B could be removed and replaced if their ends were made square instead of beveling, or if the bolt-hole was not slotted, yet the advantages arising from these features of the construction warrant the slight additional trouble and expense attending this construction. My invention embraces the construction of these parts with any form of joint when held by the clasp herein described.

Among the manifest advantages possessed by my invention not common to those of its class is the retaining of the parts of the head together, when removed from the barrel, by simply clamping them together in their relative positions by means of the clasp, thereby avoiding the liability of their becoming separated and lost.

I claim as my invention- The combination, with a barrel-head havstructed and arranged to operate as and "for in gits central section divided transversely the purpose specified. into thesubsections A and B, provided with a slotted hole for the screw-bolt a, of the sliding SETH WHEELER. clasps and clamping device, herein shown Witnesses: and described, consisting of the upper plate G, E. B. WHEELER,

under plate D, and screw-bolt a, when 0011- EDGA'R J. WHEELER. 

